September 2019 - 60

Advanced Players

Mike's Advice
BY MIKE LAWRENCE

michaelslawrence.com

Knowing when to use a weapon
There is a defensive ploy known as
an uppercut. It has two forms. In one
form, a player leads a card which partner can ruff, forcing declarer to overruff. It looks like this:
♠ 10 5

♠84
♠AK3

♠96

This is the trump suit. At some point,
West leads a plain suit, and East ruffs
with the 9. South doesn't seem to have
any trump losers, but if he overruffs,
West's 10 will become a winner, and
if South doesn't overruff, he loses the
trick.
In the second form of uppercuts, a
defender leads a suit that both declarer
and partner are out of. If declarer
wants the trick, he has to ruff high, and
that may cost a trick. It looks like this:
♠9542

♠3

♠ 10
♠AKQJ7

This is the trump suit. If South can
get in, he can draw trumps without losing a trick. But if East leads a suit that
South and West are out of, South will
lose a trick. If he ruffs low, West overruffs, and if South ruffs with an honor,
West's 9 will become a winner.
The uppercut is a dynamic tool as
long as it's used properly. The following

60 Bridge Bulletin September 2019

is an example of an improper moment
to use it:
Dlr: South ♠ K 8
Vul: E-W ♥ 8 7 5
♦A73
♣A9842
♠ A Q 10 7 6 5 2
♥Q
♦ J 10 9 4
♣Q
West

North

East

Pass
Pass

2♣
4♥

3♠
All Pass

South
1♥
Pass

West led the ♠9. East took the first
two tricks - West having the 9-4 and
South the J-3 - and considered his
options. There were three things that
looked acceptable. He could lead the
♥Q, looking for a safe exit card. He
could lead a diamond, probably safe
enough. He didn't like leading the ♣Q.
And he could continue a spade, hoping
to set up a trump trick or two for West.
If West had three hearts to the 10, for
instance, the spade play would ensure
a trump trick for the defense.
Which of these would you choose
without benefit of seeing all four
hands? Decide before reading on.
While East is thinking, you can look
at the layout.

♠K8
♥875
♦A73
♣A9842
♠94
♠ A Q 10 7 6 5 2
♥J94
♥Q
♦Q86
♦ J 10 9 4
♣ K 10 7 6 5
♣Q
♠J3
♥ A K 10 6 3 2
♦K52
♣J3
You will note that South, who has
lost the first two spade tricks, has a
heart loser, a club loser, and a diamond
loser. South is going down two tricks ...
perhaps.
East, finding it easy to think of holdings where the uppercut defense could
work, decided to play a third round of
spades.
South liked this play. He discarded
his club loser. West wasn't sure he liked
East's play, but it did give West a chance
to get a trick with the ♥9. Dummy
discarded the ♦3. Rounds one, two and
three to the defense. And now?
West got out by leading the ♥4, the
safest exit he had. Declarer greeted this
with an announcement. "I claim."
Declarer now had six heart tricks,
two diamond tricks, a diamond ruff in
dummy, and the ♣A. Ten tricks.
That "uppercut" ended up costing
the defense two tricks.
Postmortem: There are other interesting possibilities, but if West doesn't
ruff the third spade, the defense will
set 4♥ one trick.
◾

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September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2019